Europe – MEPs demand answers over EU funding of anti-abortion charity

Politicians express concern after openDemocracy revealed EU gave €1.2m to group spreading reproductive disinformation

Sian Norris
19 December 2024

Members of the European Parliament have demanded answers over the European Union’s funding of an anti-abortion organisation.

Earlier this year, openDemocracy revealed the EU’s Erasmus+ programme had handed €1.2m to the World Youth Alliance (WYA), a US-based charity that promotes anti-abortion disinformation.

Now, politicians from Poland, Germany, Sweden and Slovakia have urged the European Commission to “commit to reviewing and potentially halting EU funding for organisations that oppose reproductive freedom”.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/eu-anti-abortion-funding-questions-world-youth-alliance-erasmus/

EU gives anti-abortion group €400k to educate girls on reproductive health

EU criticised for ‘mind-boggling’ decision to give the World Youth Alliance funding for girls’ reproductive health education

Sian Norris, OpenDemocracy
15 October 2024

AUS-based anti-abortion charity was given a €400,000 grant from the European Union to run a reproductive health and rights education project, in a decision that experts describe as “mind-boggling.”

The World Youth Alliance (WYA), which has a Brussels office, claims that abortion poses a risk to fertility and future pregnancies – claims rejected by the NHS. Its founder, Anna Halpine, has also compared abortion to “the Nazis and their campaign to dehumanise Jews”.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/anti-abortion-ngo-eu-funding-reproductive-health-programme/

European Union funds charity that compares abortion to Holocaust

EU hands €1.2m to charity that spreads disinformation about sexual and reproductive rights to teens and women globally

Sian Norris, Soita Khatondi Wepukhulu
3 October 2024

The European Union has given more than a million euros to a charity that peddles anti-abortion misinformation and whose founder compared reproductive rights to the Holocaust, an investigation by openDemocracy can reveal.

The US-based World Youth Alliance (WYA) – which has a European office in Brussels – is officially a “non-religious” non-governmental organisation, yet its values and teachings often echo religious conservative talking points on gender rights.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/eu-funding-anti-abortion-charity/

Anti-abortion group uses US federal grants to push controversial fertility app

Anti-abortion group uses US federal grants to push controversial fertility app
Femm app, which sows doubt about the pill, promoted by Obria group that was awarded $1.7m by Trump administration

Jessica Glenza
Mon 29 Jul 2019

US federal grants intended to help poor women obtain contraceptives are being used to promote a menstruation tracking app funded and operated by anti-birth control and anti-abortion campaigners.

The Femm app sows doubt about the birth control pill and promotes itself as a natural way for women to “avoid or achieve” pregnancy. The app collects women’s most intimate data, including details on menstruation, sex, mood and prescription drugs. Its developers say it has been downloaded more than 400,000 times.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/29/us-federal-grants-femm-app-natural-birth-control

Revealed: women’s fertility app is funded by anti-abortion campaigners

Revealed: women's fertility app is funded by anti-abortion campaigners
The Femm app has users in the US, EU and Africa and sows doubt over the safety of birth control, a Guardian investigation has found

Jessica Glenza in New York
Thu 30 May 2019

A popular women’s health and fertility app sows doubt about birth control, features claims from medical advisers who are not licensed to practice in the US, and is funded and led by anti-abortion, anti-gay Catholic campaigners, a Guardian investigation has found.

The Femm app, which collects personal information about sex and menstruation from users, has been downloaded more than 400,000 times since its launch in 2015, according to developers. It has users in the US, the EU, Africa and Latin America, its operating company claims.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/30/revealed-womens-fertility-app-is-funded-by-anti-abortion-campaigners?wpisrc=nl_lily&wpmm=1